These are my personal views.

A week ago, I was a blogger. A week ago I received a very disturbing comment from a friend of my ex-boyfriend. It says, “Hindi neutral yung lugar na pinagsusulatan mo. Lahat ng makakabasa nito, ay siya ding mga contacts and friends mo. Dalawa ang side sa bawat kwento, at kung maghuhusga ang mga tao, at magpapakita ng sympathy, kelangan alam nila ang katotohanan, from both sides. Paki-ayos lang facts mo.”

After reading his comment, I was dumb founded. Do I have to defend myself? What do I tell him? I just stared at it. After a few hours, I deleted all my blog entries. That was it. I lost.

The term “blog” is an abbreviated version of “weblog” which is a term coined for web sites maintained for personal account. A blog is simply a journal updated frequently by its author. It can be a personal journal of the author which can contain his daily life experiences and thoughts. It includes a diary-type commentary featuring personal views of the author from a whole range of subjects.

Because of what technology offers today, that is a personal broadcasting site for bloggers, they can be called just amateur journalists. They can fuss about anything under the sun, from political to economic, to fashion and music. These amateur journalists take the role of editors, analysts, columnists and reporters in their own broadcasting environment – their accounts in multiply, friendster, livejournal, blogspot and so on.

The multimediality of weblogs bestows the blogger the power to make decisions on which media formats can best tell his story. The Web has allowed video feeds and photos to support a blogger's article. He can also consider using hyperlinks to connect his story to other stories, archives, resources and so on.

What is good about blogging is that the World Wide Web gives voices to alternative points of view. Weblogs allow immediate feedback through comments, which provide the venue for the airing of these alternative voices. Its interactivity has allowed room for options for the public to express their response, interact or even customize certain stories.

Also, professional journalists can also be one of those bloggers. They create their own weblogs not just to immediately post and upload their news stories but also to share their own views and perspectives on national and international events and situations.

Journalists who have their own weblogs are unbounded by the editors who will choose to put or not to put their writings into printed materials. In the comfort of their weblogs, they can easily upload their articles and click the save and publish button to be read by the public.

Freedom. Bloggers and even journalists who own weblogs enjoy freedom from editors. They can write about any story without editors being happy or unhappy about it. However, because of this freedom the web put forwards, some bloggers are so keen into ridiculing others in their blog posts.

Recently, Janina San Miguel from the University of the East won the title of Bb. Pilipinas-World. I read a blog of my classmate mocking and making fun of her. I watched the video of the title holder’s interview in You Tube and it really is funny and shameful. But because of blogging, people has the freedom to write about anything, even to scoff at anyone without being reprimanded. As my other classmate have said, “Blog ko naman ‘yon eh. Pwedeng basahin mo, pwedeng hindi mo basahin. It is your own choice.”

The opportunities for writing about different topics in a weblog are limitless. You can choose to write about anything and everything. Journalists enjoy this chance. Why? They can use their weblogs to report on stories outside the scope of the article they are currently writing about in print publications.

You are on your own when writing in your own journal. You are your own editor when you blog. It is very essential that you check your own facts. Be responsible for your writing.

As Professor Danilo Arao of the College of Mass Communication said, “New media allow you to become your own gatekeeper.” Because of the freedom you enjoy in writing online, especially in your own blog pages, you should be responsible for everything you post online. As I have experienced, I know my facts very well and it seems that the one who commented on my blog entry does not know what he is talking about. One, I believe my ex-boyfriend told him nothing about what happened. Two, I have experienced it first-hand so I would know better what took place that day. I am a journalism student, I am being trained to tell all sides as possible – to be objective at all times. I believe I just did that.

I believe that the most important rule in journalism is accuracy, accuracy, accuracy. Whatever it is that journalists or bloggers write about, everything should be accurate, and responsibly written.